The History of Vampires

For centuries there has been numerous folklore tales that suggest that there are vampires, creatures of the night that suck the blood from its victims and leave them for dead or to become of the vampires. Entities known as, or similar to what we now know as vampires actually have been recorded in many cultures and may even go back to prehistoric times, but the term ‘Vampires’ didn’t really arrive until the early 18th century. The term ‘Vampires’ originated from Eastern Europe and the Balklans (The Southern Greece peninsula); it was transferred into superstition in Western Europe where Vampires become legends.Ancient beliefs There have been tales of supernatural beings that consume blood or the flesh of the living, found in almost every culture for centuries. Spirits or demons were often thought as the blood drinkers, or eaters of the flesh not initially a vampire. You will find that these spirits were linked to people thought and believed of the devil or what the devil represented. The Persians were one of the first civilizations to have written tales depicting creatures that attempted to drink blood from men. In India, there were tales of a character called vetalas, ghoul-like beings that inhabit corpses. In both ancient Babylonia and Assyria, there were tales of a mythical being called, Lilitu and later known as Lilith in Hebrew. This demon was known as a consuming of babies blood. You will find actual demon gods can be found in both ancient Roman and Greek mythology that had similar flesh eating or blood sucking characteristics that are synonymous with vampires.The Arrival of Christianity

With the arrival of Christianity throughout Europe, the tales of vampires blended into the semblance of Jesus Christ, in that the vampire was viewed as “a dead person who retained a semblance of life and could leave its grave-much in the same way that Jesus had risen after his death and burial and appeared before his followers”. During the middle ages the documents of vampires changed slightly to incorporate them as minions of Satan himself. This is where the use of a cross or symbol of Jesus is now used in modern films to ward off possible vampires.The Book that made the Modern Vampire Popular culture increased the awareness of vampires and no doubt best remembered for Bram Stoker’s 1897 novel, Dracula. People were drawn to the stories of Vampires and Werewolfs at time because of the lack of modern science that now prevails in most schools to educate people that these beings do not exist. The book itself started a genre that moved from books, to cinema, to television, and finally video games. If you were to be bitten by a vampire what would you have enough time to sort out your funeral plan, just in case you might pass away and not become one of the undead!